Page 36 of Accidental Baby Daddy

“You’re right. I’m not going to turn up my nose at it. I’ll take the job.”

She stuck out her hand for me to shake, and I shook it, smiling.

Things seemed to be looking up.

“Promise me one thing,” I said, leaning down to her ear.

“Yes?” she asked, looking up into my eyes.

“No more running,” I said firmly. “When you’re ready to leave, talk to me first. Let me know you’re going.”

She was quiet for a long moment, but then finally nodded.

“All right. No more running.”

I nodded back, slowly moving toward the door, hoping against hope she’d stop me, kiss me, but she didn’t. She just looked away and started making herself coffee.

“I’ll get you some more information about the job at the bar,” I said awkwardly.

She nodded, barely glancing at me. “Cool.”

Cool? I sighed. We were back to square one on the intimacy front. I hated that, but there wasn’t anything I could do about it right now.

As I walked back up the hill to my place, I thought about how I was already in too deep.

I needed to back off, not continue jumping in.

But instead, I found myself pulling out my phone, calling Clayton. We’d been in talks about the Pig for a while, but I’d never had a reason to pull the trigger.

Until now.

“Hello?” Theresa, his wife, answered.

“It’s Oliver Stanhope,” I said quietly into the phone,letting myself out the back door. “I was hoping that we could meet up today. Finally sign the papers.”

I could feel her hesitation through the line. “I don’t know, Oliver. We’ve received another offer?—"

“I’ll double it,” I said firmly, hearing a surprised gasp on the other end of the line.

“Double it? You don’t even know what it is!”

“Doesn’t matter. You know I can cover it.”

“All right. Come on over then, I’ll get everything printed out.”

“Be there in an hour.”

I hung up the phone, then hurried upstairs to dress simply in a button-up shirt and a pair of black jeans. I didn’t need a three-piece suit to close on the purchase of a dive bar, and besides, Clayton’s wife, Theresa, and I knew each other. She knew my family and had been friends with my mother.

When I arrived at the Pig, she met me at the door.

“How’s your mom?” she asked quietly, and I took in a deep breath. I knew that Theresa must know what a hard time my parents were having, how they’d split up recently. They hadn’t mentioned the word “divorce” yet, but it seemed to hang heavy in the air every time I was around them. I couldn’t get them in the same room together, not anymore.

“She’s hanging in there,” I muttered, not wanting to speak much on that subject. Thankfully, Theresa seemed to understand, simply nodding before sliding a file folder across the bar to me.

“Can I get you a beer?”

“Any kind of ale, please,” I replied. She poured me a pint that I barely sipped while looking over the contract.

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